Waveguide tsim los ntawm tungsten disulfide tau tsim los ntawm engineers ntawm University of California San Diego thiab nws tsuas yog peb txheej ntawm atoms nyias thiab yog lub thinnest optical ntaus ntawv nyob rau hauv lub ntiaj teb no! Cov kws tshawb fawb luam tawm lawv qhov kev tshawb pom thaum Lub Yim Hli 12 hauvNature Nanotechnology.

Tus tshiab waveguide, yog hais txog 6 angstroms (1 angstrom = 10^-10meters), 10,000 lub sij hawm thinner dua li ib txwm fiber ntau, thiab txog 500 lub sij hawm thinner dua ib tug on-chip kho qhov muag ntaus ntawv nyob rau hauv ib tug integrated photonic circuit. Nws muaj ib txheej ntawm tungsten disulfide tshem tawm ntawm ib lub silicon thav duab (ib txheej ntawm tungsten atoms yog sandwiched ntawm ob sulfur atoms), thiab ib txheej txheej ua ib tug photonic siv lead ua los ntawm ib tug series ntawm nanopore qauv.

Qhov no ib txheej siv lead ua yog tshwj xeeb nyob rau hauv uas nws txhawb electron-qhov khub hu ua excitons, nyob rau hauv chav tsev kub, cov excitons tsim ib tug muaj zog optical teb xws li hais tias lub refractive index ntawm cov siv lead ua yog kwv yees li plaub npaug ntawm cov huab cua refractive index nyob ib ncig ntawm nws nto. Nyob rau hauv sib piv, lwm cov ntaub ntawv uas muaj tib lub thickness tsis muaj xws li ib tug siab refractive index. Raws li lub teeb mus los ntawm cov siv lead ua, nws raug ntes sab hauv thiab ua raws lub dav hlau los ntawm tag nrho cov kev xav sab hauv.

Lub waveguide channels teeb nyob rau hauv qhov pom spectrum yog lwm qhov tshwj xeeb. Waveguiding yav dhau los tau ua qauv qhia nrog graphene, uas tseem yog atomically nyias, tab sis ntawm infrared wavelengths. Pab neeg ua qauv qhia thawj zaug waveguiding hauv cheeb tsam pom. Nanosized qhov etched rau hauv cov siv lead ua tso cai rau qee lub teeb kom tawg mus rau sab xis ntawm lub dav hlau kom nws tuaj yeem pom thiab soj ntsuam. Qhov array ntawm qhov no ua rau cov qauv ua ntu zus uas ua rau cov siv lead ua ob npaug ua ib qho resonator thiab.

Qhov no kuj ua rau nws yog qhov thinnest optical resonator rau pom lub teeb puas tau ua kom pom kev sim. Cov txheej txheem no tsis yog tsuas yog txhim kho qhov teeb meem ntawm kev sib cuam tshuam, tab sis kuj tseem ua haujlwm raws li kev txiav txim thib ob grating coupler rau ob peb lub teeb rau hauv lub teeb pom kev zoo.

Cov kws tshawb fawb tau siv cov txheej txheem micro- thiab nanofabrication siab heev los tsim cov waveguide. Tsim cov qauv yog qhov nyuaj tshwj xeeb. Cov khoom siv yog atomically nyias, yog li cov kws tshawb fawb tsim cov txheej txheem los ncua nws ntawm silicon thav duab thiab qauv nws meej yam tsis muaj kev tawg.

Lub tungsten disulfide waveguide yog ib qho pov thawj ntawm lub tswv yim rau scaling down the optical device to sizes that are orders of magnitude me than today's devices. Nws tuaj yeem ua rau txoj kev loj hlob ntawm qhov ceev dua, muaj peev xwm ntau dua photonic chips.